I'm not going to deny that there's a ton of geekery involved. But there are several things my non-geek wife loves about our home automation system, including:

I'm not going to deny that there's a ton of geekery involved. But there are several things my non-geek wife loves about our home automation system, including: * Never coming home to a dark house (minimal lights automatically come on at sunset, and tapping one button immediately inside the entry door turns on several lights in the area you're walking in to). * Watching a movie in complete darkness, but hitting 'pause' and having the necessary lights to get to the bathroom or kitchen come on (at a dim level so you're not suddenly blinded). * Having "believable" automated operation of lights and other things when we're on vacation, giving a better appearance of someone being home. * Being able to adjust the temperature when we're not home (helpful when we've been gone a while and want the house pre-warmed/cooled). Etc. This certainly ALL falls into the luxury category, but it's quite nice. I don't think the issue in this market is that people who aren't geeks wouldn't enjoy the benefits. It's a combination of a lack of proper marketing, high cost, and the interfaces for these things not being where they need to be for average users. Maybe Apple can address at least some of those factors.